Helicopter crashes near school in South Brunswick, injures 2 aboard

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — When Ryszrad Mazur reached the helicopter that crashed near a South Brunswick school Wednesday, the passenger looked lifeless.

"There was blood in her mouth, in her nose. She looked like she died," said Mazur, who was working on the roof of the Indian Field Elementary School when the chopper came down about 11:30 a.m. about 100 feet behind the school.

Mazur and co-workers removed the woman, 44, who was taken by State Police helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Workers also extricated the pilot, a 27-year-old Hillsborough man, who went by ambulance to the same hospital. Both were in critical condition last night, authorities said.

Fuel leaked from the wreckage and the pilot made faint cries for help as workers reached him, Mazur said. The woman, who was doing aerial photography and still had a camera around her neck, showed signs of life when placed on the ground, away from the wreck, Mazur said.

Michael Hart Jr., a salesman at the nearby Dayton Toyota car dealership, said the helicopter struggled in mid-air before coming down.

Mazur was on the school roof when he saw the helicopter suddenly drop and fly toward the back of the school. He said workers briefly feared it would hit the building or the gas-powered tar kettle on the ground behind the school.

Then the copter changed direction and came almost straight down. Police credit the pilot with changing course to avoid the school.

The helicopter’s landing struts were flattened, the tail section had snapped in two, part of the windshield was smashed out, and sandals and camera equipment lay in the rubble on the floor of the vehicle.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peter characterized the crash as an emergency landing, which is under investigation. The aircraft, a Robinson R22 Beta II, is registered to Nassau Helicopters Inc., based at Princeton Airport, Peters said. Company officials could not be reached by telephone.

According to the manufacturer’s website, the R22 is a four-cylinder craft with a gross weight of 1,370 pounds and a range of 300 miles on full fuel tanks. Its maximum speed is 118 mph.